Chapter 86: Victorious—A Single Battle to Immortality (Part 1)

"Becoming a Sage? What does that mean?" Xiao Zhou and Liang Xiaoxiao stared wide-eyed at Old Master Liang, their faces full of confusion, not understanding at all what he was talking about.

Old Master Liang, on the other hand, was visibly excited as he spoke: "Haven't you ever heard of the so-called 'Immortal Poet,' 'Sage of Poetry,' or 'Sage of Medicine'? Do you really think those are just honorary titles given by the common people? Of course not! In classical Eastern records, it's long been written: when an ordinary person achieves supreme mastery in a certain field, they become a sage."

A sudden tremor surged through the hearts of Xiao Zhou and Liang Xiaoxiao, their pulses quickening.

"Grandpa, you can't be serious, can you? This is just too unbelievable!"

"Exactly, Old Master Liang, what era do we live in now? We don't buy into these old superstitions."

Old Master Liang shook his head, sighing with deep emotion. "The affairs of the world are ever-changing. Who among us can claim to understand all the knowledge in the universe? Can you truly say there's no such thing as gods or immortals in this world?"

"Besides, even after becoming a sage, one wouldn't possess the powers of gods or immortals to move mountains and overturn seas. It only means that from now on, in the art of chess, no one in this world can ever defeat him again."

A sharp intake of breath escaped both of them as they exchanged glances, reading the fear and shock in each other's eyes.

It was simply too astonishing. In this world, there really was someone who, just by playing chess, became a legendary sage.

If Old Master Liang hadn't told them this today, they would have never understood what was truly going on.

Meanwhile, the livestream chat was bursting with excitement.

"I never thought I’d live to see this moment. This is just too cool!"

"Even if my brother-in-law photoshopped this, I’d accept it. He’s actually holding his own against AlphaGo, neck and neck. It’s already move two hundred and thirty-four!"

"Incredible, brother-in-law is not human!"

After reaching the Sage Realm through pay-to-win, AlphaGo’s suppression of Yang Xiaofan disappeared completely; in fact, it was AlphaGo that kept falling back under Yang Xiaofan’s relentless attacks.

Normally, artificial intelligence processes information at a terrifying speed; in a Go match, it barely takes any time to calculate the next move and decide which tactic to use and where to place the stone.

But now, Yang Xiaofan’s moves had pushed the AI’s rapid-fire neural networks to the brink—it couldn’t quickly simulate possible sequences and positions.

This made countless viewers’ hearts race with excitement.

"This is unreal!"

"Maybe, just maybe, brother-in-law really can beat AlphaGo!"

Far across the ocean, at the headquarters of an artificial intelligence conglomerate, urgent alarms suddenly blared.

"Alarm! Alarm!..."

The technicians, focused on their work, were stunned. What was happening? It was the first time their AI system had triggered such an alert—nothing like this had ever happened before.

"Quick! Check what’s going on!" The technical director gave immediate orders for an investigation.

In no time at all, they traced the cause back to Yang Xiaofan.

"It’s that Go player."

"You mean the one from the East? Oh my God, how is this possible? He’s just a human—how could he be beating our AI?"

"The AI’s reactions are getting more intense. Hurry, initiate an update! Enhance its system and boost its algorithms!"

"Yes, sir!"

The AI was the company’s flagship product; if it lost to a human, the ramifications were obvious: the company’s stock would plummet, perhaps catastrophically.

In the worst-case scenario, it could even mean bankruptcy.

Worse still, future AI research companies would face endless skepticism.

If an AI that could be defeated by a human had no reason to exist, then what was the point?

So at this moment, nearly everyone in the company dropped what they were doing, throwing all their efforts into strengthening the AI, helping it fight against Yang Xiaofan.

Yet, no matter how fast they worked, they could not crack the chessboard Yang Xiaofan had created.

The human brain is said to use only ten percent of its capacity, and with that ten percent, we have already built a world of scientific wonders.

But now, Yang Xiaofan, who had become a sage in the art of chess, possessed a level of mastery that was unheard of. No one could guess how vast his mental powers in chess truly were.

With a single move, he could already see the outcome thousands of moves ahead.

This was the Chess Sage!

A being beyond the limits of humanity.

All the AI conglomerate could do now was rely on the collective strength of its staff to help AlphaGo calculate and enhance its computing power.

This was no longer just Yang Xiaofan versus AlphaGo.

This was Yang Xiaofan against AlphaGo and an entire world-class AI company’s top researchers.

This battle was many times tougher than the one years ago when the world champion faced AlphaGo!

Back then, AlphaGo had easily broken through human defenses and ultimately defeated humanity.

But this time, Yang Xiaofan pressed forward relentlessly, and finally, after one decisive move, AlphaGo fell silent for an entire minute.

At last, it conceded defeat and officially surrendered.

In that moment, the whole world was plunged into silence.

"Brother-in-law... won?"

It took dozens of seconds before anyone reacted, and someone tentatively typed a message in the chat.

Immediately after, countless others joined in.

"Holy crap! Brother-in-law actually won!"

"Hahaha... Amazing! Incredible! Let’s all cheer for brother-in-law! Long live brother-in-law!"

"Brother-in-law, you’re so handsome. I want to be your mistress."

"I’ll be mistress number two."

"Then I’ll be number three."

...

Old Master Liang, still in front of his screen, collapsed to the ground in laughter, as if he’d gone mad with joy.

"That’s it! That’s it! To have witnessed such a match in my lifetime—my life is complete! No regrets!"

Liang Xiaoxiao and Xiao Zhou looked at each other in utter disbelief.

The most shocked of all was Qin Nuanshin. She had just seen the barrage of comments in the livestream, and everyone’s assessment of AlphaGo.

Almost no one believed Yang Xiaofan could win.

And yet, against all odds, Yang Xiaofan had won!